CATCH A SEA STAR Comes To The Clore Studio This June
Performances run 3 – 7 June 2025.
By: Stephi Wild May. 27, 2025
Seaglass Arts will present Catch a Sea Star, an interactive, multi-sensory chamber opera for toddlers and babies designed to introduce them to a fantasy world of music and playful possibilities. Catch a Sea Star will be performed in the Clore Studio from 3 – 7 June 2025.
Catch a Sea Star follows the story of a colourful kingdom full of beautiful music and mysterious creatures. The Clore Studio is transformed into an enchanting world where sparkling stars are reflected on the ocean floor, and the waves sing with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Directed by Freya Wynn-Jones, soprano Chiara Vinci and baritone Ian Beadle are accompanied by a string trio, with Joanna Lawrence and Naomi Burrell on violin and Sam Glazer on cello.
Originally commissioned by Spitalfields Music in 2016 as part of the RPS-shortlisted Musical Rumpus series of baby operas, Catch a Sea Star was revived by Seaglass Arts last year for European dates at Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg) and Luxembourg Philharmonie. The show arrives at Covent Garden fresh from an ACE-supported tour of libraries, family hubs and community nurseries in East Sussex, where the company is based.
Seaglass Arts is one of several small UK companies gaining international recognition for their radical work for very young audiences. Their approach balances insights from child development and pedagogy with a co-creative attitude to working with children and families, and a commitment to access and inclusion, all underpinned by a focus on artistic and musical integrity.
Sam Glazer, Director of Seaglass Arts, said, “Our work invites the very youngest children to join us in the music and express themselves through movement and voice - which of course they do naturally. Parents and carers often take a while to relax into this permission but are always stunned at the sustained engagement their children are capable of. The children's authentic and instinctive contributions provide a brilliant challenge and inspiration for our ensemble in the improvised sections of the show. It's a beautiful new form of work which blends the voices of all those present - we can't wait to share it with audiences at the Royal Opera House!”
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